01-29-2005, 02:17 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The bliss sheath is the seat of human desire. If Ishwara is the sum total of bliss sheaths of Jivas then isn't the Ishwara contaminated by the base desires of Jivas?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Bliss sheath (Anandamaya kosha) has nothing to do with desire. It is the Ananda part in sat+chit+Ananda. The bliss of the ONE.
Desire presupposes lack, want and incompleteness. It is antithesis of bliss. What you mean by bliss is the other term 'joy' (sukha). sukha-duhkha come in dual pairs. Ananda is not sukha. Ananda (bliss) is net positive. It is not defined through a negation of the nirananda.
All suffering is because of some fear, some pain, some want caused by the existence of the 'other'. When unity is achieved, then there is no 'other'. Cause of all the suffering goes away when one attains unity. That state is called the Anandamaya.
Objection can be raised that ananda is just like sukha. In the state of unity, if the duhkha vanishes, so does sukha. There is nothing to be happy or sad about. So where is this ananda then?
The presence of ananda can be inferred by the direction of increasing happiness and decreasing pain when one progressively moves towards the unity of the brahman or Self. The limit of this process can't suddenly make happiness and pain equal and negate both of them simultaneously. What is left at the end is Ananda.
The three attributes of sat, chit and ananda are net positive attributes. They don't need to be defined through a negation. They are like real photons that define light. Not like darkness which can't be defined through any 'dark' photons, but must be defined by a negation of light.
Bliss sheath (Anandamaya kosha) has nothing to do with desire. It is the Ananda part in sat+chit+Ananda. The bliss of the ONE.
Desire presupposes lack, want and incompleteness. It is antithesis of bliss. What you mean by bliss is the other term 'joy' (sukha). sukha-duhkha come in dual pairs. Ananda is not sukha. Ananda (bliss) is net positive. It is not defined through a negation of the nirananda.
All suffering is because of some fear, some pain, some want caused by the existence of the 'other'. When unity is achieved, then there is no 'other'. Cause of all the suffering goes away when one attains unity. That state is called the Anandamaya.
Objection can be raised that ananda is just like sukha. In the state of unity, if the duhkha vanishes, so does sukha. There is nothing to be happy or sad about. So where is this ananda then?
The presence of ananda can be inferred by the direction of increasing happiness and decreasing pain when one progressively moves towards the unity of the brahman or Self. The limit of this process can't suddenly make happiness and pain equal and negate both of them simultaneously. What is left at the end is Ananda.
The three attributes of sat, chit and ananda are net positive attributes. They don't need to be defined through a negation. They are like real photons that define light. Not like darkness which can't be defined through any 'dark' photons, but must be defined by a negation of light.